Rep. Keating Presses New FBI Director On Bomb Probe

BOSTON U.S. Rep. William Keating is pressing new FBI Director James Comey for more information about the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing.

The Massachusetts Democrat said none of his questions in the letter he sent to Comey on Wednesday would compromise the ongoing probe. He says he wants to identify any security shortcomings to help protect the public from future attacks.

Keating says his questions focus in part on the FBI’s follow-up to Russian information about suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s travels to Russia.

Keating met with Russian officials in May. He said they showed him a letter they sent to the FBI in March 2011, warning that Tsarnaev had plans to join insurgents in Chechnya.

Tsarnaev traveled to Russia in January 2012 and returned to the U.S. in July.

Keating said he also wants to know why Tsarnaev’s travels were not adequately shared within the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Boston and if any steps have been taken to improve information sharing between the FBI and local police forces.

“It has been three and a half months since the terror attack in Boston, and the FBI has yet to answer the pressing questions that would help law enforcement and legislators better prepare against threats in the future,” Keating wrote.

Keating also said he wants to know if loopholes identified within consolidated terror watch lists have been addressed.

Tsarnaev died during a gun battle with police. The bombing killed three people and wounded more than 260.